Lizard Kings’ full house prompts two more Doors tribute shows
Among the success stories coming out of this year’s Nelson Winter Festival has been the early ‘full house’ sign going up on The Lizard King’s show Light My Fire: a tribute to The Doors. A month out from the premier performance on July 22 all tickets were gone.
The multi-media show is the brainchild of Nelson vocalist Marcus Roebuck, who pitched the idea to keyboardist Liam Ryan.
“It was a no-brainer for me,” says Ryan. “Apart from the musicality of the Doors and the legends surrounding the life and death of Jim Morrison there is the tumultuous decade they lived in -Vietnam, the protest movement, the drugs, the move from the Beatles’ pop music to heavy rock music – the Doors were prime movers in all of that cultural shift.”
The Lizard Kings spent last summer viewing old video footage, listening to bootleg albums and reading widely while researching the essence of the Doors’ music, before guitarist Glynn Olsen wrote out arrangements of all of the songs and the band began rehearsing late March.
The show covers 22 of the Doors songs, in a narrative format the Lizard Kings have devised to show off the greatest hits of the Doors, alongside what Roebuck calls the ‘hidden gems’ in their repertoire.
“Listen to the sensitivity of Crystal Ships, the trippy-ness of Riders On The Storm or the James Brown funk of The Changeling and you hear the breadth of Doors’ musical brilliance.”
For Roebuck the long winter of rehearsal s has been a labour of love.
“Jim Morrison has always inspired me. He played every show like it was his last. He wore his role as a rock poet on his sleeve – flamboyant, dangerous and always honest,”he says. “I got the Doors at a young age. I loved their blues-based material and I have always admired the intricacy and diversity of their songs. The Lizard Kings is not a dress-up covers band. We have drilled down deep into this music – the show is our musical tribute to one of the most important bands of all time.”
The Light My Fire show totally sold out a month before the premier performance on July 22. Due to popular demand two more shows are now being staged at the Nelson School of Music, on Friday September 23 and Saturday September 24. .
The show is attracting the interest of other arts and music festivals throughout the country and there is now talk of a national tour.
The Lizard Kings are: Marcus Roebuck (vocals), Glyn Olsen (guitar), Liam Ryan (keyboards), Sahn Bishop (bass) and Joe Tatley (drums) and with visual effects by Klaasz Breukel. Tickets are on sale now from the Nelson School Of Music.
For More information contact: Liam Ryan 021 0421 322, liamryan@xtra.co.nz
